I Hate Girls!
by 101wuzup1
Summary: Husky hates girls. Always has, always will. Right? Well, when a centaur-like anima shows up and saves him from certain death, will he still hold strong to his belief? Or will love win over hate? Rated T just in case.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own +anima! There I said it. Now READ!**

Husky watched his unsuspecting prey swim closer and closer. When it was just close enough, Husky thrust forward the sharpened stick and speared the fish. He smiled at his skills and swam to the surface of the pond. As his head broke the surface, he did not gasp for air like "normal" people did when breathing air after a long swim. Husky was a fish +anima, which meant that he had several characteristics of a fish, one of which was gills. Another was a fish tail that gave him the appearance of a mermaid. Some people might think that having a power like this would be amazing and fun. But unfortunately they are wrong. Most of the people of Astaria, the kingdom Husky and his friends lived, thought +anima were monsters and freaks. Husky had been on display at a circus, trying to get enough money for food. They were treated like outsiders and prosecuted for what they were.

Husky pulled himself out of the water and changed back into his human form. His silver-blue hair was dripping with water but he didn't mind. He admired his catch. Or tried to. He only got to look at it for about half a second before the stick was yanked from his hand. "That should be enough." Nana said, "Great job, Husky!"

Husky didn't reply. Cooro licked his lips at the sight of so much food. "You would think that after eating nothing but fish for a week that I would start to get sick of it," he said, "but I'm not!"

"I am!" Nana compained, "I want some bread. The fresh baked kind you get as soon as it comes out of the oven."

Husky rolled his eyes. "Well I'm sorry I couldn't find any bread at the bottom of the pond. I'll look harder next time!" he snapped.

"'elax 'usky," Cooro said through a mouthful of cooked fish, "Eat!"

Husky sat down and nibbled on one of the fish. Senri picked up one of the fish as well. As Husky was eating his he felt an uncomfortable feeling, like the feeling you get when someone is staring at you. He looked around but could not see anyone. He shrugged and tried to shake off the feeling. When they had all eaten their fill (except Cooro, who's hunger never ended) they lay on their backs and stared up at the stars. Nana was blabbing on and on about a nearby town they could stay at and eat tons of fresh baked bread. "And it probably wouldn't cost that much," she said brightly, "With the money we still have from Husky's wig and jewelry-"

"Ughh!" groaned Husky, "Why do we keep spending my money! Why don't you three get jobs of your own and buy whatever you want with that money? I earned the money I have!"

Nana folded her amrs across her chest and pouted. "You're being so selfish Husky!" she said, "Share some of your money!"

"I have been sharing!" he said, "Remember at the last town when you took my money to buy that new dress!"

Nana blushed. "My old dress was getting worn out." she defended.

"Well then you should have gotten a job and gotten your own money!" Husky said sitting up, "What is it with girls and wanting to buy everything they see!"

He got up and walked over to the edge of the pond. He was careful not to let the water touch his toes as he rested on the grass. _Stupid Nana, _he thought, _It is simple enough to get a job and get money and not having to keep stealing mine._

He laid down and let his eyes droop until he was in a deep sleep. His last thought was, _I hate girls..._


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own +anima, the only person in this story I own is Rue. Well I think that covers it.**

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Husky's eyes flickered open and he looked around. He saw Nana and Cooro sleeping quietly around the dieing fire. He twisted his head slightly and saw Senri sitting up and flicking through his book. Senri glanced up at him then back down at the book. "'Morning to you too." Husky mumbled.

Nana opened her eyes and yawned. She stretched and sat up, looking around her. "Good morning Senri and Husky." she said brightly.

Husky said good morning back. Senri gave her the same greeting as he had given Husky. Just then Cooro sat up and grinned at all of them. "Good morning Senri, Husky, and Nana!" he said.

"Good morning Cooro!" Nana replied.

"Yeah yeah we get it! Good morning to everyone!" Husky complained.

"Well," Nana huffed, "Someone got up on the wrong side of the ground today."

"Since when is there a right side to this hard ground?" Husky growled, "And it's not my sleep I complaining about. I'm just tired of having to get up every morning and get food for all of you."

"I could get the food today." Cooro volunteered.

"You can't swim Cooro." Nana reminded him.

"Well I could fly around and see what I can find." he said with a smile, "That sounds like fun!"

He spread his big, black crow wings and jumped into the air, flying away into the wilderness. Husky sighed. "Well we won't see him for a while." he said, standing up and pulling his shirt off.

"What are you talking about?" Nana asked, "He went to get food."

"Yeah but while he is gone he is going to find some little kid who is trying to learn how to fly a kite, then spend three hours teaching the kid how to make the coolest kite ever. And after that he will spend two more hours teaching the kid how to fly the kite. Then he will fly back, forgetting that he was supposed to get us food."

Nana opened her mouth to protest but decided against it. They all knew Husky was right. Husky threw his shirt next to the pond and dove in to get breakfast. About an hour later, he pulled himself back out and dried himself off with a piece of cloth Nana handed to him. They sat around the fire roasting the fish and waiting for Cooro to fly back. "Maybe I should go look for him," suggested Nana, "He could have gotten in trouble."

"Naw, he's Cooro." Husky said with a wave of his hand, "If someone tried to catch him he would just fly away. That's what he usually does. And besides he hasn't been gone that long. He's probably still deciding if the kite should be big enough to carry a real person."

Nana smiled and shrugged, eating the rest of her fish. When they had finished, they laid back on the grass and stared up at the sky, trying to decide where to go next. Nana wanted to go to a fancy town where everyone wore nice clothes and there were bakeries on every corner. Husky didn't care where they went as long as they could afford it and they could get jobs. And Senri well... Senri didn't really care. A few hours later, right on schedule, Cooro flew into view. "Food!" he exclaimed seeing the fish that the others had left for him by the fire.

He sat down and inhaled the first fish. Husky gave Nana an "I told you so" look. Nana rolled her eyes. Husky loved being right. They lay on the ground quietly for a while, yanking up the blades of grass that drifted with the wind. Suddenly Husky got that feeling he had last night. He looked around to see if anyone was watching him. The other three were just staring up at the sky. Husky's eyes scanned the woods as the feeling became more and more intense. "Does anyone else," he said slowly, "get the feeling we are being watched?"

Senri sat up and nodded. Cooro sat up and looked around. "I don't feel anything," he said with a smile.

"Me neither." Nana said, "Maybe you guys are just being paranoid."

Senri looked around them and frowned. "Not paranoid." he said jumping to his feet.

Suddenly about fifteen grown men on horses stormed from the trees. They surrounded the four kids, whispering amongst themselves and smirking at the small group. Senri glared at them and held his bear arm infront of him in a fighting stance. Nana and Cooro flicked out their wings. _Aww crap_, Husky thought. The men were blocking the only way to the pond. _Maybe they will be so surprised that we are +anima that they will leave, _he thought hopefully. But the men didn't seem very surprised. They looked like they had been expecting this. "We've been watching you," the leader said, "We know what you are. And we know that you have a large amount of money on you, especially for four kids."

"They're bandits." Husky whispered to the others.

"No duh, sweetheart." the leader said.

Husky's cheeks flushed with anger. The leader nodded at the other fourteen men who raised several different types of weapons. "Grab 'em." the leader said.

Just as the others horses took a step forward Senri lunged at them and Nana and Cooro took flight. "Wait!" Husky shouted after them, but they couldn't hear him.

Senri was fighting off five of the bandits and was too busy to see the rest of them closing in on Husky. Husky held his staff in front of him but knew they would be no use against the weapons the bandits held. He tried to hold off a couple of the thieves but one of them just grabbed his staff and threw it with a lazy flick of his wrist. Husky closed his eyes and braced for impact. He was sure the bandits were going to beat whatever they could out of him. But instead of intense pain, Husky heard cries of surprise and pain surrounding him. He thought Senri might be driving off the bandits. He opened his eyes and instead of the tall bear +anima he expected to see, he saw a horse standing in front of him. Well he thought it was a horse at first. Then he looked up and saw the horse had the upper torso up a girl about Husky's age. She held a bow and arrow in front of her, firing at the bandits with amazing accuracy. During a small pause in the battle the girl held a hand out to Husky. "Climb on!" she shouted.

Husky hesitated for only a second before gripping the girl's and pulling himself onto her back. "Hold on tight!" she instructed.

Husky wrapped his arms around her waist and did as he was told. The girl brought the bow ans arrow back up in front of her and shot as many bandits as she could. Suddenly she spun around on her back legs and thundered into the forest. "You're..." Husky stammered, "You're a +anima?"

"No, I'm a centaur. Of course I'm a +anima dumbutt!"

Husky ignored her sarcasm and tried to hold onto the galloping animal. He sneezed as her long brown hair tickled her nose. "Eww, gross!" she exclaime, "You just snotted my neck!"

"Well it's not my fault your hair is so long!" Husky said defensively.

Suddenly he remembered his bear armed friend that had been fighting the bandits. "Wait!" he said, "What about Senri?"

"The bear?" the girl asked, "I think he can take car eof himself. Last I saw, he had already taken down half the bendits without breaking a sweat."

Husky smiled. That was Senri. They made it to a clearing where Nana and Cooro were sitting, glancing around them worriedly. "There you are!" Nana exclaime, "We were worried about you!"

"You flew off without me!" Husky said, "What was I supposed to do."

Nana and Cooro blushed guiltily. "We were scared." Cooro said, "Sorry Husky."

"Where is Senri?" Nana asked, "Isn't he with you?"

"He's still fighting." the horse girl said, "I think he will be back soon. He was to big for me too carry. Oh by the way, you can get off of me now."

Husky blushed as he realized he still had a death grip around the girls waist. He let go and slipped off her back. She changed back into her human form. She was a half inch shorter than Husky and was wearing a long, dark green shirt and brown pants with laced up boots like Husky. She set her bow and quiver of arrows down on the ground. Cooro and Nana looked at the girl as if they just noticed her. "Who are you?" Cooro asked shamelessly.

"My name is Rue." the girl said with a smile, "I'm a horse +anima obviously. I just rescued your friend over here."

"I didn't need rescuing!" Husky shouted, "I had everything perfectly under control!"

"Sure you did, honey." Rue said sarcastically.

Husky groaned and laid down on the ground. After a few minutes of awkward silence Rue sighed. "Sorry," she said, "I didn't mean to make you angry."

Husky didn't reply. "So," Rue said brightly, "You're a bat," she smiled at Nana, "you're a crow," she grinned at Cooro, "your friend is a bear. So what are you?"

"A fish." Husky said.

"That's cool. What's your name?"

Husky just laid there. "His name is Husky." Nana said, "He doesn't really like girls. I'm Nana and this is Cooro. The one fighting the bandits is Senri."

Just then Senri walked through the trees. "Senri!" Cooro called happily.

Senri jogged over to them. He sat down with the group. Nana introduced him to Rue. As usual, he said nothing. "So Rue where are you staying?" Cooro asked.

"Nowhere." Rue said with a shrug, "I'm just traveling. I was trying to figure out where to go when I stumbled across you and the bandits."

"So you don't have anywhere to stay?"

"Nope."

_Oh please don't, please don't, please don't_, Husky thought desperately. "You wanna stay with us?" Nana asked eagerly.

"Sure!"

Husky groaned and tried to imagine himself anywhere but where he was.

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** A lot longer chapter than the last one but of the two chapters in this story this is definately my favorite! I hope you guys enjoyed it! R&R please! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own +Anima or any +Anima characters except for Rue.**

Husky opened his eyes the next day, and screamed, jumping about a foot in the air! "Cooro!" he shouted, "What the hell are you doing standing over me like that!"

Cooro was leaning over Husky, a wide grin spread across his face. "We were worried you had died in the night," Cooro said brightly, "It's past noon and you just woke up."

"Past noon?" Husky said.

He looked up and sure enough the sun was high in the sky. "Whoa!" he exclaimed, "I haven't slept that late since... I have never slept that late!"

He looked around and saw Nana smirking at him. "I'm sorry I slept in guys," he apologized, "You should have woken me up so that I could get some breakfast for us."

"Oh don't worry about that," a voice said behind Husky, "I took care of it."

Husky whirled around and saw Rue sitting cross legged on the ground. She was tending to a fire that was roasting what looked like some pretty fat birds. "How'd you get breakfast?" Husky scoffed.

"I shot these pityful little things from the sky a couple of hours ago," Rue explained, "We were waiting for you to wake up so that you could eat them fresh with us but you took too long so we started cooking-"

"You shot them out of the sky!" Husky said, "How?"

"Bow and arrow dumb butt," Rue said with a grin, "How else?"

Husky stared at the breakfast he had not gotten. He felt a sort of empty feeling inside, and it didn't have to do with the fact that he hadn't eaten breakfast and it was already lunch time. The satisfaction he got from getting the food himself wasn't there today. "Well you were complaining about always having to get the food," Nana pointed out, "This time Rue did it for you. And maybe since you obviously got a pretty good nights rest you won't be as grumpy as you usually are."

"I'm never grumpy!" shouted Husky in Nana's face.

He blushed when he heard Rue giggling. "What are you laughing at?!" he shouted at her.

"You, silly goose!" she said, grabbing his arm and pulling herself from the ground.

Senri shuffled over to the fire and set to work on seasoning the birds. He sprinkled some crushed up green thing onto the foul. Husky sat down on the ground, his back to the fire. "What are you putting on that Senri?" Nana asked, ignoring Husky, "It smells really good."

Husky heard them talking but had no input in the conversation. When the birds were done, it did in fact smell deliciouse, but Husky refused to eat. He didn't know why but he didn't feel like eating something a stranger like Rue caught. Deep down thought, something was nagging him, saying that wasn't the problem. "Come on Husky," Nana said through a mouthful of poultry, "Don't be a baby. Eat, it's really good."

"No thanks," he said curtly, "I think I will go get my own food."

He began walking toward the woods when Cooro said, "You are going the wrong way. The pond is over here."

Husky bit his tongue to keep from shouting. "I know," he growled, "I am going to the woods to get some birds."

"How are you going to do that?" Nana asked.

"I'll figure it out." Husky said and walked off without another word.

He walked through the woods, grumbling to himself about stupid, show-offy girls. "Catching birds is easy," he mumbled, "I just need a bow and arrow. Then I will catch just as much as _Rue_."

He spat her name as if it were a bad word. He picked up a small, bendable branch and stripping a thin peice of bark from a tree. Then he bent the branch in the shape of a bow and wiggled the peice of bark into a notch at each end of the branch so that it resembled a bow. Sort of. Then he found some pointy sticks and used those as aroows. He walked around until he found a small bird pecking at the ground. It wasn't as big as Rue's brids but it was a start. Husky held up his makeshift bow and slid an arrow into place. It jiggled as he held it up but he steadied it enough to aim at the unsuspecting bird. He pulled the arrow back until the strip of bark was taut and let it go. The problem was it didn't really go. It sort of just fell. But it stuck to the ground when it landed, that has to stand for something, right? Husky picked the arrow back up, careful not to disturb the bird. He tried again with the same results. He went at it for about ten minutes before the arrow finally went somewhere. It flew the the air and his the ground about four feet from the bird. But it russled some of the leaves near the bird which cause the foul to look up and soon take off running in the opposite direction. "No!" Husky shouted.

He abandoned his bow on the forest floor then sprinted after the bird. The unusual pair rushed throughout the woods. Apparently the bird was flightless which was good for Husky, but it was a rather fast runner, which wasn't so good. Finally a while into the chase, Husky collapsed on the forest floor, gasping for air. He wasn't much of a runner. He lay there fo r a few minutes, staring at the sky and trying to think of what he would tell the others when he showed up without any food. Not to mention, what would he eat. His stomach growled at the memory of the huge meal Rue had made back at their camp. It was probably all gone. Husky sighed in defeat. He supposed he could come up with some story about how he had pity for the bird and couldn't bare to kill it. Nana would probably like it. She was seemed to like animals a lot and didn't like killing them. Maybe that was why she liked bread so much. It didn't involve dead animals. Suddenly Rue's head popped out above him. "Hi!" she said brightly.

"Ahh!" Husky shouted, sitting up fast, "What are you doing here?"

"You have been gone a while," she said, "I thought I should come looking for you."

She held up several broken twigs and dropped them on the ground in front of Husky. "I think those are yours." she said.

"Oh no!" he exclaimed, "My bow and arrows!"

Rue snorted. "Bow and arrows?" she asked, "I thought you were trying to make a fire with that kindling."

"No!" Husky shouted, "I was trying to make a bow and arrow but I... I found a bird and couldn't bare killing it so I... broke the bow and arrow as a symbol of... of..."

"Oh shut-up Husky," Rue said sitting down next to him, "You don't have to make up some story. I don't really care if you catch anything. Nana and Cooro said you can catch a dozen fish in half an hour. That's more than I can do in a day!"

"Yeah, but you can catch birds out of thin air," Husky said, trying to make her feel better about herself. Wait, what? "No!" he shouted, "B-but there is nothing special about that. Nothing."

Rue laughed. "Whatever you say," she said with a shrug.

Husky's stomach growled. "Come on," Rue said standing up, "You need food."

"But I didn't catch any," Husky said.

"We left you some back at the camp. Or if you are to proud to eat something you didn't catch I can leave you and your... weapon here to fend for yourselves."

Husky blushed and didn't respond. Rue sighed. "Look, I'm sorry if me catching my own food hurt you feelings," she said, "It's just that I have only traveled on my own and I wanted to show you that I could help and that I could carry my own weight. I didn't mean to show off, honest."

Husky realized that she was really worried that she had upset him. He looked away, not sure how to take this. "I want to be your friend Husky," she said softly, as if she was embarrassed, "Please."

He looked up, staring straight into her green eyes. "Okay." he said. _Breath! _he thought.

Rue smiled happily and held a hand out to him. He took it and was surprised at how warm it was. "Whoa," he said, "Your hand is really warm."

"Yours is really cold." she said.

Husky shrugged. "Maybe it's our animals," he suggested as they made their way back to camp.

"Maybe."

They walked back into the clearing by the pond and saw Cooro, Nana, and Senri sitting around the pond waiting for them. "Hey!" Cooro shouted, running over to them.

Nana smiled, then frowned. "What's going on here?" she asked.

Husky and Rue looked down at their hands and immediately let go of each other. "Nothing!" Husky said quickly, "Nothing is going on here."

Nana looked at them suspiciously, then shrugged. "So are you hungry?" she asked.

Husky smiled at the food and lost himself in the thought of Senri's seasoning.

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**Okay now I'm done! This chappy was kinda boring but the next chapter is the one I'm looking forward to writing so I hope you guys can bear with me until then! Please R&R!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own +Anima or any character except for Rue. **

Husky awoke early the next morning and found Rue asleep right next to him. He yawned as this thought processed then gave a yelp and jumped away from her. If Nana saw that she would make a huge deal about it and Husky would never hear the end of it. He decided to busy himself with making food. It was a cold day and he didn't feel like swimming so he looked at what they had left. Nothing. His stomach growled. "Cooro," he muttered to himself.

He stripped his shirt off and jumped into the freezing water. He just caught a few fish, enough for himself and a little extra. He pulled himself up the side of the pond and was surprised to see that Rue was up. "Morning," she greeted.

He raised an eyebrow at her sudden kindness then remembered their friendship pact from yesterday. "Morning," he replied, "You're up early."

"Early riser," she said, stretching her arms over her head, "Why are you up so early?"

"I wanted to make up for sleeping in yesterday," he said.

"How long have you been up?"

"About twenty minutes," Husky estimated.

Rue raised her eyes in surprise. "Only twenty minutes!" she exclaimed, "You caught that many fish in twenty minutes!"

Husky nodded. "That's amazing!" Rue said, "I can't even catch that many fish in an entire day!"

Husky blushed. "You're just trying to make me feel good after I made an idiot out of myself yesterday," he mumbled.

"Well partly," Rue said with a smirk.

Husky glared at her and opened his mouth to yell at her, but something stopped him. He didn't know what but he just felt like he couldn't yell her. Something was stopping him. Her smirk slide from her face and she tilted her head. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked.

Husky blinked and looked away. "Uh, I didn't realize I was looking at you weird," he said quietly.

Rue giggled nervously and sat down. She twirled her finger in the water. "That's freezing!" she said, "Aren't you cold?"

Husky realized that he actually was really cold. He nodded. "Well come out dumbutt," Rue said, standing up again, "I'll get you a towel."

Husky hauled himself out of the water and sat shivering on the shore while Rue searched for a towel. Finally she found one. "Here," she said, wrapping it around him.

Husky reached up to grab it and hold it on him. His fingers momentarily brushed Rue and goosebumps ran over Husky's body which had nothing to do with the cold. Rue hastily pulled her hand away. "We should start a fire," she mumbled, "To cook the fish I mean. Heh heh.... Umm... does it feel like it is getting warmer out here to you?"

Husky did feel like his neck was a little warmer. "I'll start cooking the fish," he said, avoiding the question.

"Good idea," she said, "I think I'll... go hunt a little."

She grabbed her bow and arrow and walked briskly into the woods. Husky took a deep breath and set to work on the fire. When the fish were almost done cooking, Rue came back with an armful of birds and, surprisingly, a couple of squirrels. "That was fast," he said.

"I've done faster," she said with a shrug.

Husky took the fish off of the fire and put Rue's helpless victims on. As the smell wafted into the air, Cooro began to stir. His nose twitched and he licked his lips in his sleep. Suddenly his eyes snapped open and he sat bolt upright. "Food!" he cried, sprinting over to the fire, "Gimme! Gimme food!"

"The bird and squirel isn't done yet but you can have some fish," rue said with a smile.

She handed him one of the trout Husky had caught and Cooro scarfed it down in record time. Nana walked over to them and rubbed her eyes sleepily. "What's for breakfast?" she asked.

"Same as yesterday and the day before," Husky mumbled, "Birds and fish."

"And squirel!" Cooro said through a mouthful of food.

"That's different," Nana said skeptically, "Is it good?"

"Try it," Rue said, picking up the barbecued squirrel.

Nana took it from her nervously. She hesitantly nibbled on the leg. Suddenly her face lit up. "It is good!" she exclaimed, biting off another hunk, "It tastes like chicken!"

Husky rolled his eyes and chewed on a hunk of fish. Senri woke up and sat next to Nana. He picked up the other squirrel and sprinkled some seasoning on it. Then he began to eat it in silence. The rest of the day was the same but different somehow. They hung around lazily and argued about where to go next, but Husky and Rue were strangely quiet. Husky didn't even yell at Nana when she suggested staying at a fancy hotel in some fancy city. The rose high in the sky and was well on its way back down when Rue said, "I think I'll go on a walk."

"Oooh sounds like fun," Nana said enthusiastically, "Can I come?"

"Sure," Rue said with a shrug, "Anyone else wanna come?"

"I think I'll catch some dinner," Husky said.

"I'll stay to keep Husky company," Cooro said brightly, "What about you Senri?"

"Stay," Senri said.

"'K, see you guys later," Rue said. She glanced at Husky for a second with what looked like sadness then walked off with Nana.

Husky sighed and walked over to the edge of the river. He took off his shirt and dove in. He came out about forty minutes later with enough food for all of them. He saw Senri and Cooro looking at him. "What?" he asked suspiciously.

"Nothing," Cooro said innocently, "We were just talking about the way you and Rue have been acting around each other lately."

Senri nodded, not taking his eyes off of Husky. "Me and Rue?" Husky asked, "What about us?"

"Didn't you see the way she looked at you when you said you didn't want to go on a walk with her?" Cooro said, "She looked like she was going to cry."

"You're exagerating," Husky said, his cheeks growing slightly pink, "And besides she didn't just ask me, she asked everybody."

"Well yeah, because she didn't want to seem like she was asking you out. Girls always pull stuff like that."

"What do you know about girls, Cooro," Husky said with a smirk.

"You'd be surprised," Cooro said, flipping his hair in a failed attempt to look sexy.

Husky snorted. "Sure, whatever," he muttered, giving the fish to Senri, who set to work seasoning them.

"Okay, so maybe I don't know that much about girls, but I do know a lot about you!" Cooro said, "I know how much you hate girls and how, before Rue came, you wouldn't even give them a second thought."

"I still don't!" Husky said, a little too defensively.

"Then why did you come back to camp a few days ago, holding Rue's hand?"

"My hand was cold and her's was warm so she was warming mine!" Husky shouted, "What does that have to do with anything?"

Cooro smiled mischievously. "Nothing," he said, "Nothing at all."

"You suck at acting sneaky," Husky muttered.

Just then the girls came back to camp. "Food almost ready?" Rue asked, "I'm starving."

Senri set the fish over the fire to cook. Rue sat down next to Husky and turned one of them like a rotisserie. Nana had sat down next to her and was staring at them both. "Why is everybody staring at me!" he shouted.

Nana blushed and looked away. A cold wind blew past them and Husky shivered. "Are you cold again?" Rue asked.

Husky opened his mouth to say yes but then saw Cooro staring at him curiously. "No, I am not cold," Husky snapped, "Stop worrying about me."

Rue blinked at the hostility and nodded, looked back at her fish. Husky immediately felt guilty but knew that if he apologized, in Cooro's mind, he was practically proposing to her. Husky's stomach growled. Rue handed him her fish. "You cooked it too much," Husky said, "I don't want it."

He picked up another fish that was cooked exactly the same amount as Rue's and took a huge bite out of it. Rue shrugged and nibbled on her fish. "So what did you guys do while we were walking?" Nana asked, trying to break the awkwardness.

"We talked about--"

"Nothing!" Husky said, interrupting Cooro, "We talk about nothing. We just layed around and stared up at the sky. Being lazy like _boys _always are."

Nana nodded. "Sounds like fun," she said.

The meal went on in silence until the food was gone. "Well, I'm going to bed," Husky said, "Goodnight Nana, Cooro, and Senri."

He deliberately left out Rue to end anything Cooro might be thinking. He walked over to his spot to lay down, trying to suppress the guilt that was eating at him. He closed his eyes and forced himself into a restless sleep.

While he was sleeping, he had a dream. In the dream he was chasing a bird through the forest with his "bow and arrow" But he couldn't catch. Each time he got closer something would make him hesitate and the bird would get farther away. Finally they both came to a dead end and the bird turned around to look at Husky. Suddenly it changed into Rue. Husky didn't react to this at all. He just held his arrow pointed at her heart. Rue smiled and waved. This time Husky let the arrow fly and it plunged into her heart. She didn't scream but she frowned and looked at it. When she looked up she was crying. "You said you were my friend," she said.

Then she disappeared. "I am!" Husky shouted. Suddenly his eyes snapped open and he gasped for air. He was lying spread eagled on the ground, staring up at the stars in the midnight sky. He looked around him and saw Cooro, Nana, and Senri were asleep. "Rue?" he whispered.

He sat up and looked at the river. He was surprised to see Rue sitting on the edge of the bank. He stood up and walked slowly over to her. When he got to her she glared up at him. "Am I blocking your view?" she hissed.

Husky flinched at the harshness of her words. "No," he said, "I like this view just fine."

He blushed as he realized that the he was talking about her. He sat down next to her. She ran a hand through her hair irritatedly. "What was up with you today?" she asked, "We were getting along fine until Nana and I went on a walk. What happened?"

"Cooro was being a... dumbutt," he said, using Rue's word, "He kept saying that we liked each other. It went to my head and I felt like I had to prove that we didn't. Or I didn't"

Rue stared at him. "I thought we did like each other," she said.

"Not the way he thinks we do," Husky mumbled.

"Oh," Rue said.

They were quiet for a while. "So he thought we like liked each other?" Rue said, staring at the water.

"Yeah."

"And you had to prove that you didn't?"

"Yeah."

"Well you did a pretty convincing job," Rue snorted, "I thought you hated me."

She sounded like she was in a lot of pain. "It was all an act!" Husky said hastily, "I do like you!"

Rue looked up at him. "You do?" she asked.

Husky nodded. "A lot." he said.

Rue raised an eyebrow at him inquiringly. "Wait," he said, "No! I didn't mean that! I mean I did, but I didn't mean to say it! Not in front of you..."

He trailed off at the end. She was staring at him, her green eyes so intense that Husky momentraily forgot where he was. "So you do like me?" she asked, "A lot?"

Husky sighed and nodded. Rue leaned a little closer. Husky could feel her breath on his face. "How much?" she asked.

Husky couldn't bare it anymore. He bridged the distance between them and pressed his lips against her's. The kiss was gentle at first. Then Rue wrapped her arms around Husky's neck and he wrapped one of his around her waist. He had to se the other one to brace himself against the ground so that he wouldn't fall over. When they broke apart they were both breathless. Husky smiled brilliantly and Rue giggled. Then she rested her head on his chest. He put his arm around her shoulder. "A lot." he said.**

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**Its kinda mushy but I love it! This is definately my favorite chapter! Please R&R but go easy on me if you don't like it. Romance can be an acquired taste. **


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